Monday saw Out Of Step present an album launch party for London based Art Punk outfit Applicants new release ‘Escape from Kraken Castle’. An album that has already created waves in the music press most notably with a very positive review in NME where it was rated eight out of ten.
The night kicked off with bad news as Ethical Debating Society couldn’t make the show due to car trouble on the plus side it did mean that the other acts could play longer sets. The first act to take the stage were Only Shadows a local band who mixed the sound of indie-rock, pop-punk and at times bands such as Jimmy Eat World. Although not specifically to my taste the audience including loads of people heading to the Band Of Horses show at the Civic lapped up their energetic style.
The second act completely blew the crowd myself included away with their individual and energetic style. Bad Apes are another local band who prove that the Wolverhampton scene doesn’t solely consist of bands trying to be the next Oasis. Their sound was pure noise punk and they definitely played it loud. Although I am no expert on noise punk the obvious comparison in my mind was to US Lo-fi two-piece No Age. They incorporated many elements that shouldn’t work for example offbeat drumming with mad guitar lines and created an eclectic sound which was overall mesmerising to watch mainly due to the energy which was put into the live performance.
This is a band that Out Of Step are predicting very big things from and with new recordings on the way I think these could be back to play an Out Of Step event very soon.
Finally Applicants took the stage and played an energetic selection of tracks from their back catalogue and more importantly the new record. They played like an experienced live outfit and had all the exuberance of punk rock throughout the performance. More importantly from start to finish they worked the crowd hard and created a real atmosphere with the audience worked into a frenzy.
As the set developed the only change I would have made to the live show would have been to include a keyboard rather than a backing track as it would have added a further layer to the music. However when travelling between London and Wolverhampton in a car it is totally understandable that a keyboard was not an option. I will hope to see the band playing on home turf and find out if a keyboard is included.
Overall all three acts played their hearts out for us and represent different sides of the DIY spectrum respectively. After such a successful album launch party we’re hoping to put more on so if you’re launching a record or a single and want to get Out Of Step involved contact Rich, Gem or Ben and we’ll get something hooked up.
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